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Posted on: April 6, 2011

The new black

Black and near-black plants take center stage in spring plantings

By Dawn Klingensmith
CTW Features

Having a “black thumb” takes on a whole new meaning this gardening season.

That’s because black and near-black plants are gaining in popularity – so much so that the new Black Velvet petunia, unveiled last spring, has been dubbed the most talked-about plant in 2011.

Ball Horticultural Co. claims its Black Velvet is the first all-black petunia, and has been aggresively promoting the fashionable novelty. “Everybody wants to be the first on their block with a hot new plant,” says Ball’s Bill Calkins. “Like a little black dress or a black leather jacket, black goes with everything,” he enthuses on a YouTube video, talking up the merits of the petunia as “part of a fun, awesome mixed basket.”

A few years ago, chartreuse plants that seemed to glow from within enjoyed their star turn as the must-have color among serious gardeners. This season’s darlings happen to be black. Novelty is just one of the virtues this color offers gardeners.

Why black is beautiful

In nature, the color black does not recede into the background.

“Black plants are popular in our area because they give good color and are used by landscape designers for impact,” says Pat Gillette, senior manager, Wheat’s Landscape, Vienna, Va.

Yet black is not a show-stealer. An excellent color for contrast, “black can really help another color, like orange or pale pink, pop out in the landscape,” says Amy Stewart, a contributing editor to Fine Gardening and author of “Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities” (Algonquin Books, 2009).

Stewart’s book covers deadly botanicals.“But as I was researching, I did find that people are really interested in black plants, even if the only thing that’s ‘wicked’ about them is the color,” she says. 

“These plants do not have to look like the Addams Family garden – not that there’s anything wrong with that!” Stewart adds.

In fact, black looks modern and sophisticated, especially in urban and balcony gardens, Stewart says.

Some dark-as-night flowers – like black pansies, Black Barlow columbines, Black Gamecock irises and Queen of the Night tulips – actually blossom a deep, dark purple or wine color.

Other black beauties include shrubs and trees, like the Black Lace elderberry, which “looks a little bit like a Japanese Maple with its fine, lacy foliage,” Stewart says. “It produces beautiful sprays of pink flowers in spring, and the combination of the pink against the black leaves is really extraordinary.”

Equally striking is the Tropicanna Black canna, an exotic-looking spiked plant that produces bright scarlet or orange flowers.

Black Mondo Grass is “low-growing clump grass used as ground cover, in rock gardens or as a border, or just for added interest because of its unique color,” Gillette says.

Plant it around the edges of containers or beds to frame and accent your other plants, Stewart suggests.

Just because a plant is black does not mean it shuns the sun like a vampire, Stewart warns: “Some of them need full sun in order to really turn black. Be sure to read the plant labels, and give them a spot that will really allow their darkness to come through.”